


When The Madness Stops...

by boltschick2612



Series: When The Madness Stops... [5]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, Tampa Bay Lightning, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-16
Updated: 2013-01-16
Packaged: 2017-11-25 16:35:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/640921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boltschick2612/pseuds/boltschick2612
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Unexpected Christmas texts lead to unexpected feelings which lead to unexpected solutions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When The Madness Stops...

**Author's Note:**

> Picks up immediately after Teddy got Nate's text in Take Me Over. I actually read up on the NHL's use of the "quiet room", or lack thereof, but for this story, let's pretend it gets used like it should. For those who don't know, Tommy Mulligan is the Lightning's head athletic trainer. Game dates are true, the rest isn't.

December 25th, 2011-12:05AM                                                                                                                                                                           
  
 **Merry Christmas, Teds. I hope it's a good one**. 

  
Teddy's heart raced as he read the words on the screen. Of course it would figure that Nate would find a moment like now to break back into his life. It was already hard enough for Teddy to see him every day on the ice, the only solace he could take was the fact that once the game was over, he could escape back into his life where Matt made him happy and Nate didn't exist. Now he was imposing his presence onto Teddy's consciousness once again, and once again, his world felt shattered.  His fingers hovered above the screen, debating whether to answer the text, delete it, or simply leave it there and pretend it never happened. There was something in the back of his mind that didn't like the finality of deleting it, yet another part of his mind that knew that he needed to. If Teddy was ever to be truly happy, he knew that he needed to cut all extraneous ties to Nate. And he also knew that he just couldn't. Nate really had no idea the bomb he had just detonated in Teddy's life.

Matt started to stir awake, surprising Teddy. The ominous text message had momentarily made Teddy lose all sense of place and time, leaving him in a disconnected sea of emotions until Matt's movements and voice brought him back.

"Hey it's after midnight. Merry Christmas, Teddy."

Teddy hurriedly locked the screen on his phone and stored it in his pocket. Looking down at Matt's smile and the intense emotions in his blue eyes solidified in Teddy's mind what he had to do. He leaned down and planted a kiss on Matt's forehead. "Merry Christmas, Gilly."  

 

 

January 7th, 2012

Matt had decided to stretch out across all three seats on the bus ride to the Bell Centre for their game against the Canadiens, taking up an entire row and forcing Teddy to occupy the seats across the aisle from him. Teddy had taken to staring out the window and watching the scenery of Montreal flash by him, his mind drifting and whirling by him as fast as the cars that were sharing the roadway. It had been a little over a week since Christmas, and Nate still had not said anything to Teddy about the text or even asked if he received it. Teddy's thoughts were half consumed fighting the urge to say something about it to Nate, and the other half being secretly glad that they were both pretending that the text never happened.

What little energy Teddy had left to spend on the subject was spent wondering whether or not he should say something about it to Matt. Teddy felt a little guilty that the message was still stored in the phone's memory, and not deleted the second it showed up on the screen. But what would he even say to him if he were to mention it? 

As Teddy stared out the window, it briefly crossed his mind that maybe he was just reading way too much into the situation. Could it be that the whole thing was simply one person offering another a generic holiday wish? Maybe a similar message could be found on the phones of Marty, Vinny, and the rest of the team? Teddy was a little shocked when the prospect of the message holding no special importance disappointed him. He had spent so much time and energy shutting Nate out of his life, and now for him to be disappointed that maybe...just  _maybe_... his efforts had worked....well, he didn't know what to think of that.

A wave of exhaustion washed over Teddy and he moved to work his body in a more comfortable position, stretching his tall frame across all the empty seats next to him. He was just about to let his eyes slide shut when he caught sight of something that made his heart race and it felt as if the floor had suddenly fallen out from underneath him. He tried to keep all emotion from his face and all fear from his voice as glanced across the aisle to see Matt holding a small black device and intently staring at it's screen.

"Is that my cell phone?"

Matt glanced up and him and cracked that smile, that mischievous smile, the one that Teddy usually loved,  had the corners of his mouth elevating in a smirk. About three weeks into their relationship, Matt had started a bad habit of swiping Teddy's cell phone when he wasn't looking and scrolling through his text messages. Teddy always chided him about it, and Matt always just shot him that same smile and shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal, and usually it wasn't. It had never been anything more than a slight irritation to Teddy, but then he never used to have text messages from Nate in there, either. Teddy had often thought about asking Matt why he even felt the need to go through his phone, but he didn't believe in asking questions that he already knew the answer to. Somewhere in the back of Teddy's mind, he always thought that it was Matt's small way of making sure that Nate wasn't overstepping his boundaries by trying to get back into his life. It actually make Teddy feel safe and protected, in a way. Until now....

Matt chucked the phone across the aisle, back in Teddy's direction. It landed on the seat next to him, and he picked it up with his heart racing, wondering if Matt had gotten to Nate's text before he had stopped him. Matt let out a small laugh and leaned his head back against the window before closing his eyes and uttering the words that Teddy was so glad to hear. 

"Nothing in there anyways. You're boring."

 

                                                                                                 -X-

 

"TIME! TIME!"  
  
Marty's words, signaling a line change, could barely be heard over the noise that filled the air of the Bell Centre. The air was electric and the atmosphere was of near playoff intensity. It was late in the third and the Canadiens were only down by one goal, and they were doing everything in their power to cut the Lightning's lead down to none. The intensity was taking it's toll on the Lightning bench, the guys were exhausted. Matt sat on the bench in between the imposing bodies of Victor Hedman and Pavel Kubina, sweat soaking through his jersey and his heart pounding out of his chest. As hard as he tried, it seemed to Matt that he simply couldn't catch his breath before it was time for shift change and he was off onto the ice once more.

Matt shot his gaze out onto the ice to lock eyes with Teddy as he skated towards the Lightning bench, ending his shift. Teddy flashed a quick, subtle smile, something Matt knew he was the only one to pick up on. Matt started to offer back a small smile of his own when it died on his lips, his peripheral vision filled with a blue and red blur as Chris Campoli came rushing towards Teddy's position, and Matt instinctively knew what was going to happen next. He knew that two bodies couldn't occupy the same place and time, not without one of those bodies being forcibly displaced. Matt was on his feet and almost over the boards before Chris' shoulder had even connected with Teddy's chest, nailing him square in the Lightning crest.

The next sight that fills Matt's eyes are Teddy's skates flying up in the air, the bright lights reflecting off the blades. He's by Teddy's side mere seconds after his back hits the ice, which was followed by his helmet, which send a sickening crack through the air. He's so focused on the man laying on the ice that Matt doesn't notice the people swarming around him. He's oblivious to Tommy Mulligan hovering over Teddy and unaware of the refs clearing everyone off the ice.

He's also unaware of Nate making an attempt to lunge onto the ice as well, only to be stopped by a hand grasping his jersey. Nate looked down to see Marty's eyes signaling him to sit. He plopped heavily onto the bench, doing everything he could not to shoot a dirty look in his Alternate Captain's direction. He barely heard Marty's words, he didn't want to.

"I know you're worried, but there's already enough people out there. Let them do their job."   
  
Nate just wearily shook his head, anger and worry filling every fiber of his being.

 

                                                                                                    -X-

 

Matt stared down at Teddy's closed eyes, willing them to open, to show some sign of consciousness. He watched Teddy's chest rise and fall in shallow breaths, resisting the urge to lightly kiss Teddy's forehead, hold him close, cradle him in his arms and gently whisper that everything was going to be alright. Instead, Matt knew that breathlessly waiting for Teddy to open his eyes was all he could do at the moment. The words fell from Matt's lips in a quietly uttered mantra.

"Come on, please be ok. Please be ok. Please be ok."

The words continued until Matt saw something out of the corner of his eye that stops him cold, and it's something that no athlete ever wants to see. The stretcher is being wheeled onto the ice, the bright orange immobilization backboard perched on top. Matt broke his gaze from Teddy and shot it to the medical crew that were wheeling the stretcher towards him, he wanted to tell them to go away, that Teddy wouldn't be needing it, that nothing was wrong with him. He was shocked when they actually stopped, and he looked in Tommy's direction to see him wave them off. 

Teddy's eyelids fluttered open and a low groan escaped his throat. Confusion wrapped around his brain, all he knew was one second he was skating to the bench for a line change, the next he was on his back, staring straight up at the blinding arena lights with Tommy and Matt staring down at him. Tommy's presence and the ache in his chest clued Teddy into the fact that something must have happened between the ice and the bench, he had somehow gotten hurt. He shot his gaze from Tommy to Matt, the worry written all over his face. Teddy let out a small smile in an attempt to alleviate some of Matt's worry, and started to sit up before being stopped by Tommy's hand on his shoulder, impeding his movements. 

"I'm fine, Tommy. Just got the wind knocked out of me is all. Really."

Tommy pulled back and let Teddy slowly sit up. "Fine, but take it slow, alright?"

Teddy slowly climbed to his feet, with the help of Tommy and Matt grasping him under each arm. The crowd erupted into raucous applause upon seeing Teddy stand, and he briefly thought that it really was a shame that this was the best reception he's ever gotten out of a crowd, at least in his mind. Matt stayed behind as Tommy helped Teddy skate off towards the tunnel, presumably to have him spend some time in the quiet room. Matt's heart rate was finally starting to slow some, and he fought back the tears as he watched Teddy disappear down the tunnel, realizing how close he was to what could have turned out to be the "worst case scenario" in every hockey player's life.

As Matt made his way back to the Lightning bench, he saw Nate staring at him out of the corner of his eye. What grabbed Matt's attention was the look contained within Nate's eyes, the expression on his face, and the body language that was louder than any words. Without even uttering a sound, Nate was saying "It should have been me out there with him. I should be the one worrying about him" loud and clear. 

Instead of making a path to the open door as he had originally intended, Matt made a line to the boards in front of where Nate was standing by the bench. He stopped short just inches away from Nate, the boards being the only thing preventing Matt from further imposing his body into Nate's space as an intimidation tactic. "Got something you'd like to say, Nate?"

Nate scoffed and leaned a little closer to Matt, showing him that he wasn't about to back down.  "Nothing that you want said in public."

Matt could feel the eyes of his entire team fixated on him, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. There had been so many things that he wanted to say to Nate for so long. He felt that he couldn't keep quiet any longer, and he let out a small condescending laugh. "Is that so?"

Nate rolled his eyes and backed away, laughing as if something Matt said had just struck him as insanely funny. "Go sit down, asshole."

Matt had had enough of Nate's attitude that he could do whatever he wanted to whomever he wanted, especially when "whomever" was Teddy. He was fed up with Nate being the reason for Teddy's broken self esteem, and he was really just fed up with Nate, period. Matt threw his gloves down onto the ice, the intense look in eyes challenging Nate in a way words never could. Nate followed suit, one of his gloves hitting Marty in the ankle as he shed them from his hands. The two stood there, staring intently at each other, anger and jealousy hanging between them. Boucher decided that he had seen more than enough, and moved to impose himself on Matt's line of vision, standing behind Nate.

Boucher  angrily pointed at Matt to get his attention, then pointed towards the tunnel, his eyes wide and his words hissing out through tightly clenched teeth. "You two. Locker room, now."

 

                                                                                                         -X-

 

The three never made it to the locker room, they were about halfway down the tunnel when Boucher came across two folding metal chairs that were leaning against the wall. He picked one up and opened it, slamming it down on the floor and causing a loud crack that echoed through the tunnel. He did the same with the second one, the loud sound causing Nate to jump slightly even though he knew the noise was coming. Boucher didn't have to tell Matt and Nate what to do, all he had to do was look in their direction, where they stood silent. If someone were to meet Guy Boucher for the first time, under these circumstances, they might think that he was mean, possibly even tyrannical. But his team knew better. They knew that he was a smart, caring man that could probably best be summed up in one word...intense. That intensity sometimes came off wrong to people that hadn't taken the time to find out what it was all about.

Matt and Nate simultaneously slinked to the two chairs and sat, only to watch their coach pace back and forth for a few seconds before finally turning to face them and speaking in a tone that was softer than they both expected. 

 "What was that all about?"

Nate sheepishly decides to be the first of the two to break the silence. "We're just both worried about a team mate, that's all."

A look of utter confusion plays across Boucher's face. "And what part about that makes you want to beat each other up?"

Matt starts to open his mouth, unaware of what he was even going to say, but was cut short when Boucher waved a dismissive hand in the air and started pacing again, his words filling the empty space, bouncing off the walls. "You know what? Nevermind. I don't care. Every night we fight, if not physically, then mentally. Against some of the best teams in the league. We fight and we struggle. I am  _not_  gonna have that same fight within my own team. Got it, gentleman? Work it out." 

The words coming from Boucher washed over Matt and Nate both, both of them listening, but not really registering. Both of their minds were focused on the man down the hall who was locked away in a dark room, being tested by doctors for a concussion.

Before either of them can utter any words, Boucher turned on his heels and walked back to the locker room, leaving Nate and Matt alone with nothing but each other and cold, empty space. Silence hung in the air, each man sensing the other wanting to break the silence, but not wanting to be the first one to do it. Nate stood up, pushing the chair back, scraping the metal legs against the concrete floor and causing the only sound either of them had heard in minutes. He decided that if neither of them were going to say anything, then there was no sense in sitting there. He started walking back towards the bench when a feeling grabbed him, and it wasn't the feeling of anger or jealousy like it usually was when he was around Matt. It was the feeling that he needed to make Matt understand. It may not change anything, but at least then Matt would  _understand_. "You know, I'm just worried about him, same as you."

Matt scoffed and pushed the chair's two front legs off the ground, balancing on the back two. The smile on Matt's face and his body language told Nate that he had no interest in hearing what he had to say. Matt turned his head to look away from Nate and let out another small, condescending laugh. "You're nothing like me."

Nate narrowed his eyes at Matt, the anger and jealousy once again finding its way into his brain, Matt's impertinence serving as a catalyst. "What do you know, Matt? You think you're so informed about me?"

Matt never broke his gaze down the tunnel, never turned to look at Nate as he spoke the words that sent chills down Nate's spine. "I know that if you really were worried about his well being, you wouldn't contact him. Not on Christmas, not ever." 

As he ran through all the possible ways he could handle Matt's comment, Nate's heart pounded in his chest. He could ask Matt how he knew about the text, but it really didn't matter. He knew. He could try and explain that it was in no way an attempt to come between him and Teddy, but that wouldn't be entirely true. Instead, Nate opted to just ignore Matt's comment and continue on his original train of thought. "You think you know so much, huh? Well, let me tell you something,  _new guy_. I've known Teddy a hell of a lot longer than you, and you have no idea what we went through, what we mean to each other."

Nate made sure to emphasize the words "new guy", using his voice to make it crystal clear that he meant those words not only in the context of Matt's time with the team, but in the context of his time in Teddy's life as well. 

Matt finally stopped staring down the tunnel towards the locker room, secretly waiting for someone to emerge with some news, and turned his eyes to Nate. Whatever retort Matt had died on his lips as he looked into Nate's eyes, really  _looked_ at him for the first time since they had met, and his whole perception changed in an instant. He stopped seeing Nate as the enemy, and saw him as a man who hurts. A man with feelings, a man that was in love and had it all ripped away from him. He saw the anguish and despair that hid in Nate's eyes, and it was a look he knew well. He had seen it in Teddy's eyes more than enough times.

Nate closed his eyes, hiding his attempt to hold back the tears that wanted to fall at the thought of what he had...and lost...with Teddy. He slowly walked back to the bench, convinced that he had lost Teddy in every way possible, that nothing would ever go back to the way it was.

 

                                                                                                  -X-

 

Teddy darted his eyes around the dark room, desperately wanting to spring up off the table and walk to the locker room to be with the rest of his team. It was hard to keep track of time in a room with no light and no clock, but Teddy figured that was probably by design, as few things to stimulate the brain as possible. Even despite this, Teddy figured that he had been in the room a good fifteen minutes, more than enough time for the game to be over and the chances of him returning tonight to dwindle to zero. After the he had been evaluated and stashed away in the dark, vacant room, he lay with time passing him by. He knew he was supposed to be relaxing and focusing on any symptoms that might arise, but Teddy found it near impossible to relax while his life was flipped upside down yet once again and he was at the mercy of his body and whatever injury it decided to exhibit, which thankfully had been none so far.

There was a light knock on the door, followed by the sound of it slowly opening, sending shards of light into the room. Teddy squinted his eyes against the light, trying to see who had opened the door, and all the could make out was the outline of someone dressed in full hockey gear. Teddy sat up as Matt's voice filled the darkness.

"They said you were done in 'time out' now. Watch your eyes."

Matt waited a few seconds for Teddy to shut his eyes before he flicked on the light switch and closed the door behind him, locking it. He crossed to the hard wooden table where Teddy was sitting and sat next to him, facing him and leaning forward until their foreheads touched. He reached up and ran his fingers along Teddy's lips, only to let them fall away so he could replace them with a soft kiss. Matt pulled away and Teddy saw the same look now in Matt's eyes that he saw as he was laying on the ice, staring up at him....fear.

Matt cleared his throat and broke his gaze, looking down at the table. "You really scared me, ya know?"

Teddy reached up and hooked a finger under Matt's chin, lifting his face until their eyes met. "I'm fine. They said I was fine."

The room fell silent once more, the words of "I don't know what I would have done without you" remaining unspoken between them, the words didn't have to be spoken for them to both know that they were there.

Teddy let a small smile creep across his face in an attempt the elevate the mood. "Did we win?"

Matt let out a small chuckle, the fact that winning was Teddy's main concern right now speaking a testament to his devotion to the game. "Well....no. But you would've been proud of us, we kept fighting until the end."

Teddy's look turned serious, and Matt knew what words were going to be the next out of his mouth. "Speaking of fighting...what's this I hear about you and Nate?"

A heavy sigh escaped Matt, and he leaned forward to plant a kiss on Teddy's forehead. "Don't worry about that. Let's just worry about getting you back to the hotel and getting some rest."

 

                                                                                                  -X-

 

Everything was irritating Teddy, even the sound his shoes made against the soft carpet of the hotel hallway. After he had stepped out of the quiet room and changed out of his gear and into his suit, the coach had insisted that Teddy be evaluated once more before being allowed to leave. He reluctantly agreed, not that he felt he had much choice anyways. Teddy tried to tell them time and time again that it was his chest that was hurting, not his head. His chest that had bore the brunt of Campoli's shoulder, not his head. And they had retorted by saying time and time again that his head  _did_  hit the ice, and one could never be too careful. The entire cab ride back to the hotel, Teddy kept thinking about the text...that damn text...and whether it meant something....or nothing at all. For some reason, the cab seemed more cramped than normal, and by the time he crawled out, every muscle in his body ached. He wanted nothing more than a hot shower and a soft bed, preferably one or both of those shared with Matt. 

The door to his hotel room, the door behind which he knew comfort was waiting, was perhaps the most welcome sight he had seen all night. He slid the key card in and waited for the beep, then finally opened the door and exhaled, insanely grateful that tonight was finally over. Except the sight that greeted him on the other side of the door told him that the night wasn't over, not even close. 

Teddy was shocked to see his past and his present sitting on the same hotel bed, chatting as if they were old friends. Matt and Nate in the same room, of their own accord, was something that Teddy was sure that he was never going to live to see, yet here they were. The shock snapped from Teddy's brain and he let the door close behind him, but he didn't step further into the room. He let annoyance permeate his voice, he was beyond the realm of caring how his words might sound to anyone. "Ugh...maybe I did get a concussion."

The smiles disappeared from both Nate and Matt's face, whatever they had been talking about when Teddy walked into the room being long forgotten. Matt was the first to attempt to speak, his hesitation and stuttering making Teddy a little nervous before Matt finally found the words to explain what was going on.

"Nate and I had a heart to heart at the game..."

A look of confusion and incredulity played on Teddy's face, and he stepped a little further into the room, but not much. His subconscious wanted him to stay close enough to the door to make a hasty retreat. It wasn't so much Matt that had Teddy on edge, but more Nate and the possibility of what his presence could mean. His mind was going a hundred miles a minute, and his tone of voice reflected that fact. "Uh-huh..."

Nate tried to further explain things. "And another one when we got back to the hotel..."

"Uh-huh..." Teddy wearily uttered again, still unsure of what was going on.

"And it seems that I want desperately to hold onto you, and Nate can't seem to let you go," Matt explained, looking Teddy deep in the eyes and searching for any sense of the emotions he was feeling.

Nate decided to try adding his voice to the explanation.  "And I think that we all need to come to some sort of agreement if we're all going to play together. Something needs to be done about our current situation."

And there it was. Teddy got it now, and it hit him like a ton of bricks. He crossed to where the dresser was on the far side of the room, throwing his suit jacket on top of the dresser with such force that it slid off and fell on the floor. He didn't bend down to pick it up, didn't even give it a second thought as he turned to face Matt and Nate. "So you both decided to act like three year olds who both want the same toy on the playground? Since you can't decide who deserves me more, you're reluctantly going to share? Does that sound about right?"

Matt stared at Teddy with his mouth open in shock. He didn't know if it was the way Teddy misunderstood it, or the way he made it sound, but Matt knew he never intended to make Teddy feel like and object. That wasn't what he wanted from all this. "No, it's not like-"

"Yes, it is. But only for tonight," Nate interrupted, cutting right to what he thought was the chase. Nate knew he could never have Teddy back in his life, not in the same way he was before. He thought that what they had planned was nothing more than a temporary fix, but it was one that he was all too happy to engage in.

And with Nate's words, Teddy realizes exactly what they were all talking about, and it wasn't what he thought it had been all along. He mind spun as he realized that Matt and Nate weren't talking about sharing him in a relationship, but something less complicated. Or  _maybe_  less complicated, anyways. 

 "In what sick, twisted world is a threesome with the both of you a cure for all my troubles?" Teddy asked, letting the shock show in his voice. He didn't wait for an answer, or for any semblance of an attempt to give him one, from Matt and Nate. He scoffed and left the room without any further words.

 

                                                                                                -X- 

 

Teddy stared at the rows of buttons on the soda machine as if they held all the answers to the universe. He tried to make it look like he was indecisive about what soda to choose, but the truth was, he already decided five minutes ago. Trying to decide what to do about everything else in his life was the problem. Just a couple months ago, he was deliriously happy with Matt, and Nate was almost a non-entity in his life. Now, he was being faced with the possibility of those two worlds colliding, and not in a way he ever thought possible. Did he even  _want_  it to be possible? He had to admit, the idea did sound intriguing. But being the kind of person Teddy was, he wasn't just thinking about how it would affect things right now, as Nate and Matt surely were, but he was thinking of how it would affect things in the future. Teddy knew himself, and he knew he never could separate sex from emotions. If this happened with Nate tonight, what was to stop his feelings for Nate from re-emerging, after he had fought so hard to bury them?

Teddy was so deep in thought that he didn't hear the footsteps leading up behind him, and he jumped in surprise when a hand reached out from behind him and pushed a button on the soda machine, dispensing a root beer into the tray with a thud. He knew it was Matt before he even heard the voice.

"We both know  that's what you were going to get anyways."

Teddy turned around to face Matt and looked into his intense blue eyes before Matt shot his gaze to the floor in shame. "I'm so sorry, Teddy. I had no idea it would make you feel that way." He let out a small chuckle, and continued. "I swear the idea sounded better in my head."

Teddy lifted Matt's chin, and locked eyes with him once more. "I'm just worried it will complicate things. More than they already are."

Matt let a small smile creep to his lips, and planted a small kiss on Teddy's forehead before pulling away and running his fingers up and down Teddy's arms as he so often did when they were talking face to face. It was just one more of the many small things that Teddy loved about Matt. It never ceased to make Teddy's heart race, and he almost had a hard time concentrating on Matt's words. 

"You never got a proper goodbye with him...don't you think you deserve one?  I think it'll be good for you, good for us. It'll give you a sense of finality and closure, and it'll make Nate and I feel less like bashing each others skulls in every time we see each other."

Teddy let a small laugh fill the air at Matt's last statement. He resisted the urge to press his lips to Matt's, always aware that someone may be watching. Instead, he took his hand, hooking his fingers around Matt's. "Just for tonight?" Teddy asked as he looked into Matt's eyes, getting lost in the sky blue serenity.

Matt shook his head and returned Teddy's gaze, tightening his fingers around Teddy's hand. "Just for tonight. After that, it's back to just me and you. Just me and you, for as long as you'll have me."

"Let's get back to the hotel room so I can kiss you like I want to," Teddy said, his heart racing as he thought about what he had just agreed to.

Matt released Teddy's hand from his grip and turned to walk back to the hotel room, shouting over his shoulder. 

"Don't forget your soda."

 

                                                                                                   -X-

 

When Matt and Teddy returned to the hotel room, the found Nate lounging, spread out on the bed and literally twiddling his thumbs. He looked in their direction and smiled. "I take it the fact that you came back means you finally listened to reason, Teds." That was the most Nate had spoken to Teddy in months, and he desperately tried to keep the nervousness out of his voice, but it still cracked slightly. 

Teddy crossed to the bed and sat on the bed next to where Nate lay, and Nate sat up, his back resting against the headboard. He reached out to run a hand along Teddy's jawline, his hand shaking as he touched the skin that he had longed to touch every time he lay eyes on his former love. Nate let his hand fall away, his voice coming out in a whisper as all the feelings he had been bottling up exploded in his brain. "I am so sorry. All I can hope for is to have you in my life again, I need my friend back."

"I'd like that," Teddy says, momentarily lost in the moment, forgetting where he was or that there was someone else in the room. Matt's movements towards the bed startled Teddy, and his eyes fall to the mattress as Matt sat down behind Teddy, causing the mattress to sink in under his weight. Matt plants a small kiss behind Teddy's ear before pulling away to shoot his gaze from Teddy to Nate, and back again. "Now that's we've all kissed and made up, so to speak..."

Matt let his sentence trail off, the implied meaning clear. Matt shifted and lunged forward to press his lips to Nate's, planting one hand on the headboard of the bed, and Teddy had to remind himself that this was what they all agreed on. He watched as Matt eagerly kissed Nate, pushing his tongue past his teeth and into his mouth. He found himself growing warm as he watched Matt snake his hand up Nate's shirt, and even warmer when Nate grabbed Matt by the back of the neck, pulling him closer and nipping at his lower lip. Matt moved to rest on all fours on the bed, his knees straddling Nate's legs and both hands now resting on the headboard for support, one on each side of Nate's head, all without breaking the kiss. Matt put all his weight on one hand, so that he could reach out and grab Teddy's shirt with the other. He pulled Teddy towards  them, letting out a low throated growl and pulling away from the kiss. 

Teddy wasted no time taking the hint, and he positioned his body in front of Nate's, imitating Matt's earlier pose, as Matt moved closer to the foot of the bed, allowing him some space on the small bed. Teddy attacked the hem of Nate's shirt, lifting it over his head and discarding his shirt on the floor, which was soon joined by his own. Teddy sat back, resting on his heels as to leave his hands free, allowing him to run his fingers through Nate's silken dark hair as he moved to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth before moving to take his lower lip in between his teeth, eliciting a moan that he hadn't heard in what seemed like forever, and he was surprised to discover how much he missed it. 

As Teddy planted kisses on Nate's collerbone, the sensitive spot that he knew all too well, he felt Matt's familiar lips on the back of his neck. Matt's kisses trailed lower and lower on Teddy's neck until they found his shoulder blade, and at the same time, Teddy's kisses trailed lower and lower on Nate's chest until they found his stomach. Teddy pulled back, as did Matt, and started working on the button of Nate's pants. Nate lifted his hips and shrugged out of his pants, and Teddy was just about to do the same when Matt's hands circled around to the front of him, completing the task for him. He momentarily turned away from Nate to face Matt, pressing a kiss to his lips as he undid his pants button and slid the pants down past his hips. With a heap of clothing piled in a tangled mess on the hotel room floor, Teddy went back to planting kisses on Nate's naked form as Matt let his lips and hands dance across Teddy's bare skin. 

Teddy took to wrapping his mouth around the rigid heat between Nate's thighs, and Matt used the opportunity to trail his fingers down Teddy's back, resting on his knees behind him and watching the scene play out over Teddy's shoulder. A smile came to Matt's lips as he watched Nate throw his head back and let out a moan at the pleasure being caused by the wet heat of Teddy's mouth. Teddy let out a moan of his own , the noise escaping his throat as Matt dipped his fingers in between the valley of his ass, sliding them in slowly at first, then increasing tempo when Teddy bucked backwards, aching for Matt's touch. 

Nate grabbed Teddy by the shoulder, trying to get his attention. "Teds..."

Teddy pulled away, and Nate moved his body until he was face down on the bed, his face in the pillow, and Teddy was briefly reminded of the first time they were together. Nate was so scared then, so loving, and it was just so...perfect.

Teddy knew what Nate wanted, he didn't have to ask. It was the same thing Nate wanted when they were first together. Teddy briefly flicked his gaze behind him to Matt, and Matt shakes his head and mouths the words "go ahead" before smiling and pulling away to allow Teddy his freedom of movement. Teddy lightly trailed his fingers in between Nate's legs, and a muffled whimper came from where Nate's head rested on the pillow, he raised his hips up, signaling his wants and needs. Teddy slowly moved into position behind Nate, thrusting in with more diligence than he was used to. He was fairly certain that the last time they were together was also the last time that Nate had been with a man, and he didn't want to hurt him. More mumbled moans came from Nate, and Teddy felt strong hands grip his hips from behind as Matt slid into him, attempting to match the pace and tempo he was spending on Nate.

The room soon became a jumbled mixture of moans and words, Teddy laying kisses on Nate's back as he pushed forward, pulled back, pushed forward again. Matt had dug his nails into Teddy's hips, leaving crescent shaped marks.  Matt's eyes slid closed with each slowly paced thrust, and with every one, he thought for sure he was going to lose it.

But Teddy is the first one to break, and he's in full sensory overload as he comes undone, biting at Nate's shoulder blade in an attempt the keep the loud growl from escaping his throat. The feeling of Teddy tensing around him sends Matt over the edge, and he rides the waves of ecstasy as he bit at his lower lip, nails dragging down Teddy's side. 

They both pull away, and Nate rolled over onto his back, resting his head on the pillow and sighing as if he were spent. Teddy crawled towards the foot of the bed, leaving Matt some space and allowing him to be the one to wrap his mouth around Nate's rigid flesh. Matt gently bites at the inside of Nate's thighs before moving to take him into his mouth, causing him to squirm and moan. Nate reaches down and entwines his fingers in Matt's dark blond hair, letting his fingers rake through the strands. Teddy crawled back to the head of the bed, pressing his mouth to Nate's and swallowing the moans that escaped him as Matt's tongue danced heavy circles against his skin. It isn't long before Nate's raising his hips as the heat spread through his body and the sensations became too much, his world exploded as bright colors filled his retinas.

The three jostled for position the the small bed, sweat slicked and breathless, and Teddy ended up sandwiched in between Matt and Nate, their limbs intertwined. When he finally had caught his breath enough to speak, Nate broke the silence. "I don't know how you put up with such horrible kissing, Teds."

A laugh escapes Nate to show that he was joking, but Matt wasn't about to let him have the last word.

"He's never complained before...about anything I do."

Teddy held back a laugh, exhaustion overtaking him, sleep begging to take him. "Both of you, shut the fuck up."


End file.
